Crisphead lettuce cultivars were transplanted to the field in March 2002 in Santana da Vargem, Minas Gerais State, Brazil, in an experiment containing eight cultivars. The experimental design was of completely randomized blocks with three replications. The total and commercial fresh matter per plant, stem length, head diameter, and health of outer leaves were evaluated. For total fresh matter, a better performance was obtained for the cv. Raider, with 1075.5 g plant-1, being statistically superior to the other cultivars. For commercial fresh matter, all cultivars were statistically equivalent, presenting values ranging from 529.4 to 666.6 g plant-1. Among the cultivars, only "Raider" was superior in relation to commercial head diameter with 44.4 cm. The cultivars which presented the shortest stem length were RX 66, Rocco RZ, AEL 10, Iglo and Raider, with 5.2; 5.5; 6.2; 6.3 and 6.5 cm, respectively. The cv. Raider was superior to the others cultivars in relation to the health of outer leaves.